When the first Matrix came out, I wasn’t particularly impressed. I saw it as the apocalyptic machine controlled future of Terminator, mixed with the unreal metropolis of Dark City and its unaware messiah, and the “which reality is real” questions of Total Recall. Then the ideas percolated. There was more to this action film than just action; there was depth and complexity and a foundation of deep questions about control and reality.
The Matrix Reloaded made this world more sophisticated and elaborate. It traded in the idea of a machine made universe to enslave people’s minds for a world where intelligent programs of all sorts have their own machinations and motivations. The Matrix Reloaded was also an uneven movie where the action scenes would hit a wall and the philosophical discussion would go on longer than those seen in My Dinner With Andre.
The Matrix Revolutions picks up moments after the close of the second movie. Neo (Keanu Reeves) is in an unexplained coma. Morpheus’ (Lawrence Fishburne) ship has been destroyed and the imminent destruction of the Matrix and the last human refuge, Zion, is at hand. Neo is the key. Neo has transcended the limitations of the Matrix. He’s able to connect without jacking in, and able to wipe out machines while outside of the Matrix. His friends, Morpheus and Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss) enter the Matrix to find Neo, bring him to safety and then come up with a way to save Zion and preserve all of the people plugged into the Matrix.
The movie has its high points. The machine invasion of Zion is astonishing -- like a locust swarm combined with the Battle of Britain. Just as spectacular is a chase led by Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith). Hugo Weaving will solidify himself in movie history because of his portrayal of Agent Smith, a bad guy on par with Star Trek’s Khan, or even Darth Vader. Kudos should also go to Ian Bliss, who does a satisfying impersonation of Weaving’s character. We do get to see the machine city and it is a sight to behold – reminiscent of an HR Giger painting.
But the summits do not equal the valleys in the plot of The Matrix Revolutions. The first 20-minutes is an undefined mish-mash of recap and the search for Neo, followed by some action that pales in comparison with the previous films. After they track Neo down, most of this movie takes place outside of the Matrix as the humans work to repulse the machines that are boring into their stronghold. In the first film, the agents were the omnipotent villains. In the second movie, our heroes countered them. In this movie, they’re absent – almost wholly replaced by Agent Smith(s). Without the agents, the jeopardy is missing from the Matrix. You don’t feel like the characters could die. Indeed, the climactic showdown between Neo and Smith seems like a draw, whether they throw one punch or one million punches. When Zion’s defence is held at the climax of the film, Neo is nowhere to be seen for a good 30 minutes. At one point, I thought, “Hey. Don’t forget to mention what happened to the chosen One.”
The story does eventually bring closure to the trilogy and answers most of the burning questions. It smacks of other literary sci-fi epics centering on messiahs, with themes of sacrifice, apotheosis and massive changes to the chosen One. The Matrix Revolutions capstones a series of stories that don’t leave much room for an encore. It does this with an action movie that is decent, but far short of greatness.
